Helen Potter and the Specters of the Past
by SarahtheBardess
Summary: Sequel to “Home at Last”. Helen’s off to Hogwarts, but where a Potter goes, mystery and danger are sure to follow... Now abandoned, but finished in summary form.
1. Awakenings

(Well, ladies and gentlemen, here it is at last! If you can find it (character, place, idea, etc.) in a book with J.K. Rowling's name on the cover, it's hers. If not, it's mine. Thanks!)

* * *

Chapter 1: Awakenings

He came awake slowly. Another day. Another small eternity of pain, of struggle, of humiliation. Another chance to be the guinea pig, the lab rat, to undergo endless tests and trials, just to see for sure if it was really gone, or if it might just be hiding, ready to be coaxed out.

_If it has not returned in the past fourteen years, I believe I can safely say it never will._

Thank Merlin that the love of his life had not abandoned him. His hands had not lost their skills nor his mind its quickness. Undergoing the tests, however annoying it might be, took up only a few hours in every day, if that. The rest of the time was his own. And it did guarantee him a steady supply of what he needed, and always of the best quality.

_The world thinks me dead, that I died a hero. Let them go on thinking so. It would be utter ignominy for them to see me as I am now – crushed, physically and otherwise, unable to live without assistance from others. _

_Nothing – nothing – could possibly tempt me forward into the light again._

* * *

He came awake quickly, as he had trained himself to do after so long. Another day. Another span of time in which to take his chances with a hostile world. 

But no, this was not just any day. Today, he would humble himself to a man he had never thought he would willingly face again. Certainly not to ask him what he was now forced to.

_But I do it for her. Always for her. _

_Everything is for her._

_And who would ever have thought I – I – would have such thoughts about another?_

* * *

She came awake quickly. Not just another day, this – no, this was the day her new world would be opened to her, the world she had dreamed of since she was old enough to understand that it was a possibility… 

"Happy birthday!" chorused the voices of her family.

Helen Bertha Potter sat up in bed, grinning at them. _I don't think I'll ever get tired of this._

Dad and Mum stepped forward to claim their birthday hugs from her. Her twin, Ruby, and her newest best friend Marie were next, then her big brother Sirius, who patted her back in a suspicious manner. She left whatever it was there for the moment, since she was too busy keeping her balance under the onslaught of hugs from Evan, Ceddie, and Mary Jane, who were still too little to know how strong they were. Jamie stood aside with all the dignity of almost nine and waited until the little ones were done before stepping forward to embrace her gravely.

_He reminds me of Uncle Percy sometimes._

"Did it come?" she asked.

"Did what come?" Dad asked with a perfectly straight face.

"Harry, don't tease the poor girl," Mum scolded, smacking him on the shoulder. "Of course it came, Helen. Marie, if you would?"

With great ceremony, the thirteen-year-old produced two large parchment envelopes from the ample pocket of her apron. She made a show of carefully checking the names written on each, then handed one to Ruby and the other to Helen. "Congratulations," she said with a smile.

The twins looked at each other with excitement in their eyes, then each slid one finger under the flap and pulled in a ladylike manner, carefully lifting it up –

Ruby cracked first, ripping the flap right off her envelope and snatching her letter out. But that was to be expected, Helen thought as she followed her sister's lead. She had, after all, been waiting since yesterday.

The letter was exactly what she had been expecting. Ms. Potter had been admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, term began September 1, signed, Olympe Maxime-Hagrid, Deputy Headmistress.

Helen felt a smile begin on her face that seemed to have started all the way down at her toes. _I'm really a Potter. I'm really going to Hogwarts. I never have to go back to the Dursleys ever again._

"Out, boys," Mum said firmly, herding Dad, Sirius, Jamie, Evan, and Ceddie towards the door. "Time for dressing, and that means girls only. Out."

"Come, gentlemen," Dad said. "We must prepare for our guests. Walk this way." He straightened up with a flourish and strutted out of the room. One after another, the boys imitated his flourish and strutted out exactly as he had. Mum sighed and closed the door behind them.

"_Boys,_" the girls all said together, and then cracked up, as Helen removed the "Kiss the Birthday Girl" note from the back of her nightgown.

* * *

By the time Helen was finished dressing, the guests were starting to arrive. Uncle Ron and Aunt Mynie were first to arrive, of course, with all their children in tow. Sirius claimed Brian the moment he got out of the fire, and Minnie ran to Helen to give her a birthday hug. 

Uncle Lee and Aunt Katie were the next pair to arrive, with their two children, Benjamin and Lily. "Fred and George got held up at the shop," Uncle Lee told Dad and Mum. "They'll be here soon, though."

"Your present isn't behaving as it should," Aunt Katie whispered to Helen. "And it needs all four of them to control it."

Helen swallowed. A present that needed both her pranking uncles and their prank-wise wives to control sounded, well, dangerous. But although Uncles Fred and George were occasionally less than trustworthy, Aunts Angelina and Alicia would never give her anything that would hurt her.

The fireplace chimed to indicate a Floo connection being made into it, just before the fire turned green. A spinning form appeared in it –

And fell out of it, coughing.

"Cate!" Helen exclaimed happily, darting forward. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"Hey, Helen." Cate accepted the smaller girl's hand and pulled herself up. "Happy birthday."

"May I take your cloak, miss?" said Marie, bobbing a curtsey. Cate looked at her oddly.

"Cate, this is Marie Elliot, my new friend. She's going to be nanny for the little ones while Mum and Dad work. Marie, this is Cate. She's thirteen too."

Marie smiled a touch shyly. "Just kidding about the cloak thing," she said, shaking Cate's hand. "I kind of feel outclassed, though. Everyone else around here has magic, and I don't."

"Hey, it could be worse," Cate said as her father stepped from the fire behind her. "You could be horrendously clumsy, like me, or my namesake. Why they had to give me _that_ as a middle name I'll never know. Even if she was a hero of the Second War."

"I know something about her," Helen said in a hushed tone. "I found it out the other night. Want to hear?"

"You bet," Cate said. "Oh, and by the way, Mum can't make it. But she sends her regards."

"Tell her thanks." Helen signaled to Ruby, Minnie, and Lily, and the six girls made their way up the stairs into Ruby and Helen's room.

"So, I was getting up for a drink," Helen began, "and I heard Mum and Dad talking. It turns out that _she_ – the person Cate's named after – is the reason Uncle Charlie's never married."

The other girls gasped. "You mean he was in love with her?" Lily asked. "And then, when she – "

"Yeah. And the worst part is – she was protecting Granddad when it happened."

Everyone was quiet for a moment. "So he can't even wish she hadn't done it," Minnie said. "Because then he'd be wishing for his own father to be… you know."

"That's awful," Ruby said softly. "Poor Uncle Charlie."

"Caitlin Dora Lupin!" a voice called from the stairs. "Where are you?"

"Uh-oh," Cate said guiltily. "I probably knocked something over without knowing it."

"Come on, we'll all go down," Ruby said, getting up. "It's time to party!"

* * *

(A/N: I know it's short, but now that it's started, I will feel compelled to keep adding to it. And the more you review, the more I will add! Guesses about the identities of the two gentlemen at the beginning are also welcome (but unlikely to be verified until the story gets there). 

Note to all: the Home At Last Trivia Challenge is still open – there's one more prize to be won! Could you be the lucky winner?

Note also to Prongs J Potter: You never claimed your prize for the Trivia Challenge. What would you like your character named?

You've all been so good about waiting – I heart you all! Here's to Helen and her adventures!)


	2. Family Matters

Warning: chapter is high on exposition and information. Read at own risk.

* * *

Chapter 2: Family Matters

Several long, confusing, happy hours later, Helen lay in front of the fire, her eyes half-closed. _What a great birthday..._

The birthday presents had been given in age order of the givers. Grandma Minnie had gone first – predictably, her present to both girls had been matching sets of first-year schoolbooks. They had tried not to look disappointed, but it hadn't worked very well – until she showed them the special features of these books.

They had margin notes in them. Margin notes in familiar handwriting.

Helen had spiky writing with tall capitals, and Ruby's were compact and flowing.

"How in the world did you find our old books to copy those?" Mum asked in astonishment. "I know my mother sold mine to a secondhand dealer years ago."

"It's amazing what one can do with a few connections," Grandma Minnie said with a mysterious smile.

Helen's favorite places were the ones where Dad and Uncle Ron had had written conversations, probably during class so they wouldn't get in trouble. Ruby opened the cover of her Charms book, looked inside, and closed it quickly.

"There's a poem in there," she said. "A really weird poem."

Mum paled. "Oh no. I did come up with that in Charms, now that I think about it."

"Come up with – Ginny, not the singing Valentine?" Dad said.

Mum turned very red and nodded as the entire family cracked up.

_The things you learn about your parents,_ Helen ruminated. _Especially when they don't want you to._

Grandpap Hagrid's present was for the two of them to share, and had made Dad smile – it was an owl, the same thing he had got the eleven-year-old Harry Potter, all those years ago. Granddad Weasley had got them each a Muggle-style CD player with headphones, rigged to run on magic the way wizarding cameras did. Grandmum Weasley, of course, had baked their birthday cake, her famous "death by chocolate" recipe.

Grandpa Remus had given them two gifts – his own, matching albums for Chocolate Frog cards, and his wife's, their potion ingredients for the year.

_And that just about sums up the difference between Grandpa Remus and his wife. But Cate says they love each other, and she would know if anyone would..._

_Kind of funny that we call him Grandpa, but we don't call his wife Gran or anything like it, and they have a child not too much older than us... _

Helen smiled, stroking the small vibrating thing lying on top of her. _It's just as well, really, since she's going to be teaching us. I'll have a hard enough time remembering to call Mum and Dad and everyone else "Professor" as it is!_

Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur had given them make-up kits and a promise from Aunt Fleur to teach them how to apply it correctly. Mum had not looked happy.

_Probably means that Aunt Fleur's definition of "correctly" isn't the same as Mum's. No surprise._

Uncle Charlie had been the first to give them different presents – Ruby had a huge book about dragons of the world, and Helen had models of the actual dragons, the kind that flew around and bit things if you didn't tell them not to.

_Now all I have to do is figure out a way to get them into the Slytherin common room..._

Uncle Percy and Aunt Penelope had given them quill and ink sets, including a bottle each of one of Uncles Fred and George's products – Friend/Foe Ink, which was very tricky to make and therefore expensive. It detected the nature of the person using it, and the nature of the people reading it – the writer's friends or foes – and became visible or invisible depending on that nature.

_Excellent for passing notes in class._

And then it had been time for the present, as Uncle Fred said, "from the twins to the twins". There were several sets of twins in the Weasley family, including a pair of "semi-twins" – Justin and Remus, although not brothers, had been born on the same day and did everything together as much as they could – but Helen and Ruby had a special place in the hearts of their identical uncles.

"This is another one for you girls to share," Uncle George said, placing the shaking box on the table. Ruby looked apprehensive. Helen bit her lip.

"Don't worry, it's not dangerous," Aunt Alicia said from behind him. "Just... difficult at times."

Aunt Angelina pulled off the cloth covering the box, and Uncle Fred opened it with a wave of his wand. Out streaked a blur of black, orange, and white, which circled the room twice before coming to rest on the table and being revealed as –

"A kitten!" Helen cried happily.

"She's beautiful," Ruby said. "Or is it a he?"

"It's a he," Uncle Fred said. "And he's a bit wild sometimes. Which makes him perfect for you girls. You're a bit wild sometimes yourselves."

Ruby extended her hand to the kitten, who sniffed it delicately. Helen did the same and was rewarded with a slight nudge on her fingertips.

"_This_ is what it took all four of you to handle?" Grandmum said in amazement. "You're getting old, boys."

"It's all Fred's fault," Uncle George said. "He got the thing riled up."

Uncle Fred shrugged. "How was I supposed to know it wouldn't like the party favors?"

"No cat likes things that explode and play loud, off-key songs," Aunt Angelina said tartly. "Which is why we had to spend an hour catching him and putting the shop back together."

"What's his name?" Helen asked.

"He doesn't have one yet. That's the birthday girls' job," said Aunt Alicia. "After they get done opening their other presents."

Uncle Ron and Aunt Mynie had obviously been talking to Grandpa Remus, because their gifts were large boxes of Chocolate Frogs. "Original and Crunchy both," Aunt Mynie said. "You girls can swap as you like."

Ruby loved Crunchy Frogs, which had crisped rice in them in the shape of the frog's skeleton. This grossed out Helen, who far preferred the Original Frog. She made a mental note to trade for Ruby's Originals as soon as possible.

The girls' parents had bought them a collection of CDs for the players Granddad Weasley had got them. These were also their presents from their siblings, since each brother or sister had picked out one for each twin. Helen was looking forward to hearing a song called "Sunflower Eyes", which Mum said was the song she and Dad had been dancing to when they had their first kiss.

_And then there were the cousins..._

The gifts from the cousins had been small, but numerous and as varied as the cousins themselves. Helen's favorite, though, had come from Max and Mollie, Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's fifteen-year-old twins. It was a Weasley-Potter family tree, showing all the different branches of the family, and the people who weren't exactly related, but were still considered family, like Grandpa Remus and Grandpap Hagrid.

She rolled over and looked at it again.

_Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur. Max and Mollie, of course, and little Gabe. He was such a surprise – I still remember what Aunt Mynie said at the party where Aunt Fleur announced it. "Fleur – you're not pregnant _again?!_"_

Max was a prefect for Hufflepuff now, Helen recalled, and Mollie for Gryffindor. She remembered everyone's shock when a Weasley wasn't Sorted into Gryffindor – but everyone eventually had to admit that big, sweet Max wasn't really the Gryffindor type.

_It's a good thing they got used to it. Uncle Percy and Aunt Penelope's kids were an even bigger surprise._

Percy and Penelope also had twins, but girl twins, Selene and Dorcas. They would be third years this fall, while their brother Victor was a second year. None of them were Gryffindors – Victor was a Hufflepuff, Dorcas a Ravenclaw, and Selene, scandalizing the family, had been Sorted into Slytherin.

Helen shrugged. _They got over it eventually. And Selene does come up with the best pranks. Maybe she'd let me into their common room, if I asked really nice..._

Fred and Angelina were next on the chart. They had Craig, a Gryffindor fifth-year like Mollie, but not a prefect – _oh, most definitely not. Not him._

Craig Sirius Weasley was the terror of half the teachers in the school. He wore his red hair in dreads, had one ear pierced, and was the Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Most of the girls in his year were in love with him. His brother Colin charmed all the second-year ladies with his dark good looks and Ravenclaw wit, and Justin waited impatiently until he could start school, which wouldn't be until next year.

Justin's "semi-twin" Remus, also ten, was George and Alicia's son. His little brother Rex was seven and friends with Helen's brother Evan, who was six, and his older sister Vanna was fourteen and a Ravenclaw fourth year. She had been born only a few months before the end of the Second War.

_And then comes Uncle Ron and Aunt Mynie..._ Helen giggled, looking at the enormous list after their names. _Everyone was surprised when they had so many kids. Even them. _

Brian, of course, was their eldest, followed by Minnie. Their next youngest was Arthur, studious like his mother and close with Helen's brother Jamie, who was going on nine to Art's eight. Gideon and Fabian were five, and Aunt Mynie claimed they were the reason she was starting to go gray (which she wasn't, at least not that Helen could see). Alice was three, Frank was 20 months old, and little Marlene was not even a month old.

_And last of all, Mum and Dad. Sirius, and Ruby and me..._ Helen sighed in contentment at finally being able to couple her name with her twin's. _Jamie and Evan, and Ceddie..._ Cedric Potter was five, and Mary Jane, the baby of the Potter family, had just turned four.

_And then, off to the side, all our friends._ She ran her finger across the name "Remus Lupin" and the one next to it, and down the line to "Caitlin Dora Lupin" and a date of birth thirteen years previous. _I love Cate. Even if she is a little show-offy sometimes..._

"Lee Jordan" and "Katie Bell-Jordan" were linked, with their line leading down to "Benjamin John", a Gryffindor like Cate but a fourth year to her third, and "Lily Sela", who would be one of Helen's yearmates. "Rubeus Hagrid" and "Olympe Maxime-Hagrid" presided over "Neville", age twelve and a Hufflepuff, and "Antoinette", age nine. And next to that...

Helen frowned. _Was_ there something next to that? The chart was enchanted, of course, to record new births in the family, but this wasn't on the family part... it was over in the friends section... she leaned closer to try and see by the flickering firelight...

"Helen!" someone hissed from the door. Helen craned her neck to see Sirius waving frantically at her. "Wake Ruby, come on! Something's up!"

Helen picked up the kitten and cradled him in the crook of her arm. "Ruby? Ruby, wake up. Sirius wants us."

"Mmm, five more minutes, Mum, please?"

"_Ruby!_"

"What?"

"Come on. Sirius wants us."

"Fine." Ruby rubbed her eyes and got up. "What's happening?"

"Someone's in Dad's office," Sirius said. "Come on, we're going to miss it."

The three moved with the quiet efficiency of experienced pranksters, down the hall and to the door of their father's office. Sirius pulled out his wand and silently cast a spell on the keyhole, magnifying the sound coming out of it just enough that they could hear. Helen and Ruby leaned in behind him to listen.

"... growing like weeds," said their father's voice. "And how have you been..."

A strange man's voice laughed shortly. "Reggie will do."

"All right, how have you been, Reggie?"

"On the run from the Ministry, as usual," said the other. "I'm surprised they've never put the astounding Ashcoat and Redwing on my tail..."

"We have enough pull that we can choose our assignments to some degree," Dad said dryly. "And we've consistently refused yours for the last fourteen years."

"Kind of you."

"Kind has nothing to do with it. We're both unsure of our abilities to pull our punches when it comes to you."

"Oh, I find that hard to believe. You've been the soul of civility so far tonight."

"Only because I'm curious. What would bring you, a wanted man, to me, false modesty aside, the best Auror in Britain? And not only that, but a friend of someone who died because of you?"

Helen bit her lip hard to avoid making any noise. Ruby was clutching Sirius' hand.

"I wanted to tell you the truth."

"The truth," their father said flatly. "Are you going to claim it wasn't you?"

"Yes, I'm going to claim that. Because it's true. I wasn't even in the castle that day."

"And of course, you don't have any proof of this."

"None but my word. I had one witness, but she's dead now."

"Who was she?"

"My girlfriend at the time. My wife later."

"My condolences."

"Thank you. That brings me to the reason I'm here, Potter. We had – I have – a daughter. She's the reason I've never left the country. Call me a sentimental fool, but I wanted her to grow up here. I wanted her to go to Hogwarts. So fine. She's been accepted to Hogwarts. Now I can get the hell out of here and save my skin – the Aurors they do have on my case are getting closer. But I have a problem."

"You need somewhere for her to go if something goes wrong."

"You've gotten perceptive in your old age."

"Why come to me?"

"As I mentioned, you have history with people like me. People convicted without a trial. People whom everyone knows are guilty... but aren't. I don't want my daughter having to accept a medal for me posthumously, the way you did. Doesn't do the survivors much good, that."

"You bastard." Their father's voice was tight with anger. "I ought to take you in right now."

"But you won't, Potter, will you? Because you can see the truth in my face. As much as you hate it, you know I'm telling the truth. So you won't take me in. You'll let me walk out that door and disappear. And you'll take good care of my little S – "

The man stopped abruptly. The door that Sirius, Helen, and Ruby were leaning on flew open, and they fell into their father's office, landing in a heap at his feet. He had his wand in his hand and looked angrier than Helen had ever seen him.

"How long have you listening?" he asked coldly.

Sirius winced. "Probably too long?" he ventured.

"Probably."

"We're in trouble," Helen said timidly.

"Yes. You are most definitely in trouble."

"They all yours?" the other man asked. Helen could just see him, a slender outline topped with silver, standing in the shadow of a bookcase. "Your oldest boy, and the twins you were telling me about?"

Their father nodded. "And they won't tell anyone what they heard here tonight. _Will you_?" he asked the three pointedly.

They shook their heads hard.

"Good. Up to bed. I'll be up later to talk to you."

Ruby's eyes flicked to Helen's. The message was unspoken but understood.

_That doesn't sound good._

"That was really weird," Sirius said fervently on the stairs. "I wonder who he really is?"

"Shut up," Ruby ordered. "We're not ever going to talk about this. Ever."

Helen nodded in agreement. _What a lousy way for a birthday to end..._

_But we really shouldn't have been eavesdropping._

The kitten stirred against her chest. All at once, she knew what she would call him.

_Secret. _

_To remind me that there are some things that shouldn't be told._

* * *

(A/N: Sorry about the wait, everyone... afraid it may be about standard... but I will not abandon this story. You may have to wait a while for the update, but it WILL come. 

Also be aware that the two sections at the beginning of Chapter 1 are from the POV's of two different people. Both are canon characters, and both were at least mentioned in Home at Last...

Quillian: No tellie what I tell you!

jbfritz: Thanks!

Dahlias: See top.

MAndrews: Babbling is fine!

Insanity-of-the-owl: Here you are!

emikae: No, she's not. ::sly smile::

marathonerobsessed: You and Ollie...

mello80: Trust me, I wish I could.

Tanydwr: Yeah, a little tragedy there...

harryp123: How's this for mystery?

SilverWarrior: Yep, you got it!

blueJosh: I shall try not to disappoint, good sir.

ktwesterna: Hey, most people take a lot longer than this to update!

gallandro-83: Well, if there was something keeping someone from seeking proper medical care... ::closes mouth before giving entire plot away::

I will try to update again soon, but I have two other open stories here plus my ever-wonderful real life, so don't be too surprised if it's a while... hugs to all, and please keep reviewing, you are my incentive!)


	3. Watchwolf

Chapter 3: Watchwolf

"Welcome to Diagon Alley," Helen and Ruby chorused as the archway opened.

"Wow," Marie breathed, staring in awe.

"I remember my first day here," Dad said reminiscently. "That was my reaction too."

"Come on, everyone, there's a lot to do," Mum said, taking Ceddie and Mary Jane each by the hand.

"Oh, Mum, can't we go to WWW first, please?" Ruby begged.

"No, fun comes after work, girls. You need your Hogwarts things first. Then we can go visit those reprobate brothers of mine."

"I'll take Sirius and Jamie to Gringotts," Dad said. "They like the carts, and I know you don't, Gin. Where should we meet you?"

"We'll wait at Madam Malkin's." Mum and Dad kissed good-bye, then Dad set off with the two oldest boys, and Helen, Ruby, and Marie trailed after Mum.

Marie was getting a six-year-old's explanation of Diagon Alley from Evan, who had fallen in love with her five minutes after her arrival at the Den and went everywhere with her. "That's the ice cream place, Florian Fortes... something, it's the best, and that's the Quidditch store, it's my favorite, and that's the bookstore, Mum likes it but I don't, and that's..."

How Marie put up with it, Helen had no idea – she loved her siblings, but Evan's habit of going five minutes without finishing a sentence drove her up the wall. Yet there was Marie, listening and nodding and apparently giving all the right responses, because Evan was smiling and talking even faster.

_She'll make a really great nanny. But I wonder if that's all she'll ever do?_

"You girls go in," Mum said, stopping outside Madam Malkin's. "I don't want these maniacs running wild in there, and you're old enough to tell them what you need by yourselves."

Helen opened the door, and the girls entered the store.

"You two for Hogwarts, I'm sure," said the plump, friendly-looking witch behind the counter before they could say anything. "Come right on back, we'll get you all fixed up."

Ruby stepped up on the pedestal first, which was fine with Helen. She sat down on one of the comfortable chairs and watched her sister don a long black robe.

_That's what I'll look like. Scholarly. Grown-up._

_Magical._

The curtain on one of the changing cubicles was shoved aside, and another girl emerged. She had long, straight, reddish-brown hair and skin so fair, it was almost porcelain. Helen knew it was rude to stare, but she couldn't help it.

"This one fits," the girl said to the witch who had obviously been waiting for her, handing her one of the two robes she was carrying. "The other one is too big in the shoulders."

"That's what I thought, love – step right up here, we'll get the length set for you."

The other girl mounted the second pedestal, which Helen hadn't occupied because there had been no one to help her there. "Are you twins?" she asked, looking at Helen and Ruby.

"Yes," the Potters answered in unison.

The girl smiled slightly. "I guess you must be. Going to Hogwarts?"

Ruby nodded. "We're really excited. We want to be Gryffindors. What about you?"

The girl shrugged. "My father would never tell me much about the Houses," she said. "Only that everyone gets Sorted where they belong. So I don't really know. Do either of you play Quidditch?"

"I do," Helen said. "I want to be on the House team next year. I play Chaser. Do you?"

"I've never played much, but I'd want to be a Beater if I'd be anything." The girl turned to allow the witch pinning her robes to get to the other side. "My letter said first-years aren't allowed their own broomsticks," she said, craning her neck to see them as Ruby got down and Helen took her place. "But my dad told me about a boy he knew who got onto the House team in his first year by showing off how good a flyer he was."

"Our dad told us about that too," Helen said quickly, cutting Ruby off. "And he said that boy got in loads of trouble later for doing all kinds of stuff he shouldn't have."

"You're finished, dear," said the witch pinning the other girl's robes. She waved her wand, and a hem appeared around the bottom of the girl's robe, while the pins flew out and arranged themselves neatly in the pincushion. "I'll just do your other two to match, and you can take them up to the front and pay for them there."

"I guess I'll see you on the train, then," the girl said, accepting her three plain black robes from the witch.

"See you," Helen and Ruby said together.

"She was talking about Dad!" Ruby said heatedly as soon as the other girl was out of earshot.

"And you really want everyone to know who our dad is?" Helen returned. "They'll find out soon enough, with him and Mum being teachers – can't we be normal and anonymous for just a little while?"

Ruby sighed, but nodded. "I keep forgetting you didn't grow up with it quite the same way I did," she said. "You were here as much as you could be, but it wasn't the same. I guess I got used to being a little bit famous. You'll get used to it too. It just takes time."

"Thanks." Helen could never be really annoyed with her twin for long.

After Madam Malkin's, they visited all the other boring shops – Flourish and Blotts, the Apothecary, and so many others that Helen lost track. She spent the time thinking about her birthday and the three weeks between then and now.

Dad had been livid about them listening at his office door, and had threatened to Obliviate them all, but they had sworn not to tell anyone what they'd heard, no one, ever, not at all, and in the end he'd let them be. But they had been grounded for two weeks, with double chores. It hadn't been the greatest way to start her new life.

_But I did deserve it. I could have left, I could have told Sirius no, I wasn't going to listen. I listened, I got caught, and I took the punishment for it. _

And now it was over, so there was no sense worrying any more about it. Although Helen couldn't help wondering if she'd ever meet the mysterious man's daughter, whose name started with a hissing sound, like an S or a soft C...

Finally, when the afternoon was half over, Mum said, "Now you can all go say hello to your cousins."

Sirius was off like a spell before she'd even finished the sentence. "And don't buy more than you can carry!" Mum shouted after him.

Helen and Ruby laughed at their brother's eagerness to get inside the walls of probably the most infamous store in Diagon Alley.

"I know your uncles own the store," Marie said as the girls walked a bit more sedately up the crowded street. "And your aunts work there. Do your cousins?"

"It's how they earn their spending money," Ruby said.

"And they spend most of it in the store anyway," Helen added, making all three girls laugh. "And here we are!"

The storefront was bright blue, with the three interlinked orange W's standing out horrendously. A large sign in the window cautioned:

**Shoplifters beware:**

**WATCHWOLF ON DUTY**

"Watchwolf?" Marie asked.

"You'll see," Ruby said. "Come on, let's go in."

The store was large and crowded, with shelves that always looked as if they were going to tip over, but never quite did. A bell jangled as the three girls entered.

"Ah, cousins!" exclaimed Craig Weasley, looking up from the display of fake wands he was restocking. "Come right in, ladies, we have a special today. Ten percent off anything for anyone with one parent surnamed Weasley."

"And what he's not telling you is that our usual family discount is _twenty_ percent," Vanna Weasley added from behind him. Although Craig was Fred's son and Vanna George's daughter, the two squabbled as amiably as any brother and sister, and always had, from the day the newborn Vanna had cried at the sight of a not-quite-one-year-old Craig, making him cry as well.

"So you're bilking us, and that's what makes it special?" Helen demanded, hands on hips.

"No, what's special is that we're up front about it," Craig said. "Usually we just overcharge without telling people."

"I was wondering," Marie said, cutting Helen's indignant reply off, "what's a watchwolf?"

"Ask her yourself," Vanna said. "She's right behind you."

Marie turned and made a small squeaking noise. Helen turned as well, knowing what she would see – an almost full grown gray wolf, sitting in the middle of one of the aisles, regarding Weasleys, Potters, and Elliot with its habitual happily bemused expression.

"It's a real wolf," Marie said shakily.

"No, it's not," Ruby said.

The wolf stood up, reared onto its hind legs, and changed forms.

"Cate!" Marie looked awestruck. "How'd you do that?"

"No one really knows why I can," Cate said mendaciously. "I was born with it." In actuality, of course, she, and the whole of the Potter-Weasley clan, knew perfectly well why she had been born a wolf Animagus. But Marie was still somewhat of a stranger, and new to magic besides. She was handling all the upheavals in her life quite well, Mum and Dad said, but she wasn't to be told anything secret unless they said she could know. And there was no reason she needed to know about Grandpa Remus.

The bell over the door jangled again. "Did a black-haired moron named after a star just run in here, or am I seeing things?" said a blond boy with brilliant blue eyes and a smile to match.

"Hi, James," Helen said, since Ruby seemed unable to speak. "Sirius should be in here somewhere, I don't know where..."

"Hey, ugly idiot!" Sirius launched himself from a nearby aisle at his friend. "When'd you get here?"

"Just now, and you're the ugly idiot," James Black replied, punching Sirius on the shoulder. "Hey, Craig, what's new?"

"I'm already in trouble with Professor Fleming and the year hasn't even started yet."

"I said, what's _new._"

"Erm, Screaming Spellotape?"

"That'll do – lead me to it."

"You didn't tell _me_ about the Screaming Spellotape," Sirius complained as he followed his cousin and his friend.

"You didn't ask," Craig pointed out.

"Ruby, are you all right?" Marie asked with some concern. Ruby was approximately the same color as her hair.

"She'll be fine," Vanna said with all the authority that being a year older than Marie or Cate and three years older than Helen or Ruby gave her. "She just likes James."

"I do not!"

"You do too."

"Do not!"

"Then why do you blush every time you see him?" Cate challenged.

"I don't!"

"Yes, you do," Vanna said. "And when Sirius brought him home for Christmas, since his parents were going to be away over the holidays, you didn't say a word the entire time unless he was in some other room."

"And you spied on him for hours while Sirius was trying to explain to him how the Floo Network works," Helen recalled. "You like him, Ruby, admit it."

"Oooooh – " Ruby slumped, defeated. "All right, yes, I like him some," she admitted very quietly. "He's nice, he's smart, and he's dead gorgeous. But he's older, and he's my brother's friend. He'd never even look at me."

Cate giggled.

"What?" Ruby demanded.

"Nothing. It just sounds familiar." Cate put on a voice several notes higher than her usual alto tones. "Oh, he's so nice, and smart, and good-looking, and he's _famous_, but he's my brother's friend and he's older, and he rescued me from the terrible snake..."

"It's not the same as Mum and Dad!"

"Why not?"

Ruby took a breath to speak, paused, and finally let it out with a reluctant whoosh. "All right, maybe it is. But it probably won't end up the same way."

"James and Ruby, sitting in a tree," Marie sing-songed, grinning.

The other girls joined in.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

"First comes love,

"Then comes marriage,"

Ruby was bright red again and starting to shake.

"Then comes a baby in a..."

"STOP IT!" Ruby leapt at Cate, who was closest. Cate jumped back out of the way, tripped over her own feet, and went over backwards, crashing into one of the shelves. She yelped, turned wolf, and hid her head under her paws as Skiving Snackboxes (still one of WWW's biggest sellers after all these years) cascaded down on top of her.

"Serves you right," said Ruby, breathing heavily. "Anyone _else_ want to tease me?"

* * *

Cate was just fine, and highly apologetic once she had been extracted from the pile. The mess had been picked up and Helen was trying to decide between a quill that stained the user's fingers red and one that stained them blue when the bell on the door jangled again. 

"Hi, Uncle Harry, hi, Aunt Ginny," Vanna said happily. "Are you looking for Helen and Ruby?"

"Hello, Vanna, yes, we are," Mum said. "I just remembered we haven't been to Ollivander's yet, and that's no good, they're going to need wands for school."

"Here I am, Mum," Helen said, stepping out of the aisle with the red-staining quill in her hand. She'd make sure to slip it into Sirius' things before they left. "I'm just going to buy this, and then I'm ready to go."

"I'll be right there," Ruby's voice called from the back of the store. "I'm just deciding lemon or cherry."

"Uh-oh," Dad said. "Lemon or cherry what?"

Helen lost Vanna's answer as she headed for the counter. "That's four Sickles, thirteen Knuts," Craig said, "with your discount, of course. Thank you for shopping Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, have a nice day, and are you planning on giving this to Sirius?"

Helen nodded.

"Let me fix it up for you, then, so he won't notice it." Craig drew his wand and changed the quill to a darker shade of grey. "There, now it looks like the one he bought to give to you."

Helen raised her eyebrows.

"Oops, I shouldn'ta told yeh that," Craig said, with an almost-perfect imitation of Grandpap Hagrid's voice.

Helen laughed. "Don't worry, I won't tell him who told me."

"Four Lemon Freezes," Ruby declared, coming to the counter.

"Ah, excellent choice," Craig said, ringing them up. "Freeze someone's mouth shut. Keeps them from chattering. Is it just a coincidence that you have exactly as many here as you have younger siblings?"

"Craig, this is us," Ruby said, grinning. "When is anything a coincidence?"

* * *

"Ah, the Misses Potter," Mr. Ollivander said. "Yes, I thought I would be seeing you two soon enough. Wand hands, please." 

Helen and Ruby both held out their right hands, and Mr. Ollivander's tape measure began to take their measurements. He seemed to be choosing wands from the shelves almost at random. Helen hoped he knew what he was doing.

It took several tries, but both girls finally found their matches – Ruby's was ash, unicorn tail hair, nine and a half inches, somewhat whippy, and Helen's elm, dragon heartstring, ten and a half inches, and flexible.

"But I thought we'd be the same," Helen said, feeling oddly disappointed.

"The wand chooses the witch, remember," Mr. Ollivander said. "Even blood siblings are often very different indeed. And I will tell you a secret, young ladies. The trees from which these wands come grow side by side in the forest, with some of their branches intertwining, until it can be hard to tell which branch grew from which tree."

Ruby smiled. "Thank you, sir."

"Thank you," Helen echoed, feeling a bit better.

_It doesn't matter what, or who, I was. It matters what, and who, I become._

But deep down, inside, she wondered if she'd ever really be free from the Dursleys.

* * *

(A/N: (smiles sheepishly) Er, hi everyone. Don't hurt me, please... because then I won't be able to update for another REALLY LONG TIME... my apologies. (rants at professors) 

Anyway...

Lady Cinnibar: I'm so sorry to keep you waiting so long... did you see her? She was there!

Quillian: Oh, I think you can figure him out without too much trouble.

Gyre: No comment. ;-)

gallandro-83: All fixed!

MAndrews: Sorry.

avalon64: You know, I would have, but... never mind, you don't want to hear it.

mello80: I tried, I really did!

Silver Warrior: Yes.

Reflected Dreams: Yes, more – and yes, it was Tonks. (sniffles)

blueJosh: Afraid you'll have to wait and see about that one!

Telos: You're not _totally_ wrong. But I'm not saying which ones you got!

Barkeeper: Not a bad guess, but no, sorry.

Rubber-duckiesofdoom: That is the most awesomest name.

Silvra: Yes, he's one of them.

Wolf's scream: Unfortunately, yes, but I am trying here!

ERMonkey Burner of Cookies: Yes indeed.

jbfritz, ktwesterna, Athena Dumbledore: Thanks!

So, yeah, ATTEMPTING to get back on course and update more often than ONCE A FREAKING MONTH. Sorry, again, and hope you liked it!)


	4. Apology

Author's Note (also posted on Resonance)

It's difficult to know how to say this, but I'll give it a shot. Thank you all for reading, and those of you who have reviewed, thank you for that too. There is no way I can ever tell you what all your support has meant to me.

Now for the hard part. I have become so blocked that continuing these stories would be more of a chore than anything. I understand that all my readers enjoy my writing, but I'm afraid I'm not going to do this if it's not fun for me. I have therefore decided to discontinue writing this universe. However, I have several times heard the sentiment that there's nothing worse than an unfinished story, and I happen to agree.

So...

I do have something of an outline for this story. And I will put it in this chapter, down a suitable amount of spoiler space that if you want to take the chance that I might someday be able to keep writing on this story, you don't have to read it. But if you just want to find out how this story comes out, scroll on down and enjoy.

If you want to drop me a line and review, I'd love it, but just please don't yell at me. You have no idea how much I wish I could keep writing this. But I pride myself on writing well, and I just don't think I can write this story the way it deserves to be written. I've tried a hundred times, and the words just will not come. So I'm going to quit while I'm ahead, and give you as much of the story as I can, so you don't lose out too much.

I'm really sorry about this, everyone. Please, someday, try to find it in your hearts to forgive me. I'll still be around, reading and reviewing and such, and maybe someday I'll write again. In the meantime, you can try my beta's stuff – her name is Anne and her penname is whydoyouneedtoknow. She's written a huge and (in my admittedly biased opinion) pretty awesome AU world, starting before Harry is two and currently paused at the end of his first year at Hogwarts, with plans to write all seven years.

I'll miss you, everyone. Good luck, God bless (yes, even you atheists – just be glad He believes in you), and don't let the pixies pinch.

SarahtheBardess

June 5, 2005

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There, I think that ought to be enough, don't you?

Everyone heads off to school. Helen becomes a Gryffindor (of course) as does Ruby. The girl they met at Madam Malkin's turns out to be named Cinna Barre, Cinna being short for Cinnamon – make fun of it and die. She's sorted into Slytherin, but she's a semi-nice type, a lot like Cate Lupin's mother, current Potions professor and head of Slytherin House, Professor Athena Fleming (who is a highly independent woman and so didn't change her name when she got married).

Cinna turns out (much later) to be the daughter of the mysterious man in Harry's study, who was (kudos to everyone who guessed it) Draco Malfoy. He's also the second set of thoughts at the opening of Chapter 1.

Marie's magical relatives turn up and are just delighted that their cousin's little girl is still alive – and no, of _course_ they don't care that she's a Squib, she must come and live with them, they won't take no for an answer. With misgivings, the Potters let her go.

Misgivings are well founded. The wizards want Marie, not for her own sake, but to experiment on her, and the experiments are not designed with her comfort in mind. Someone in the house where she's confined – she doesn't know who it is – helps her, providing her with a way to get a letter out.

Helen gets the letter and (like father, like daughter) rushes off to the rescue, nearly gets herself caught as well, but with the help of a mysterious man who walks with a cane, manages to get close to Marie – just as one of the experiments succeeds in its goal of awakening magic in Marie and she nearly blows the house apart, knocking out both herself and the wizards who were running the experiment. Helen and her compatriot are close enough to hear what's going on, but not close enough to be affected.

The man takes Helen and the unconscious Marie back to Hogwarts by Floo, telling Helen she has to say the destination. They arrive in the dungeons, and the man leads them to a certain room, obviously knowing where he's headed. As he lights a fire (with a match), Helen gets a glimpse of his face and recognizes him from her family's stories – "Professor Snape?" (And he, of course, was the first set of thoughts at the opening of Chapter 1 – good work to everyone who got it!)

Reluctantly, Snape tells Helen his story. The Dark Mark was not just a way to summon the Death Eaters, but served as a siphon – Voldemort could use it to drain the Death Eaters, individually or collectively, of their magic. When Snape betrayed him by letting Penelope and Hermione go, Voldemort used the Mark to drain all of Snape's magic, then tortured him physically as well, before being called away to fight the final battle – from which, of course, he never returned.

By the time Snape got any kind of help, his wounds were past magical cures, so he has lived since that time in pain, and without magic – but magic is not required to brew most potions, so he has had that to keep him busy. He survives by allowing a few wizards who want to experiment and don't care too much if they go into the Dark Arts to see if they can bring his magic back somehow. They are looking for insight into the source of a person's magic, and what makes wizards and witches different from Muggles and Squibs. They pretended to be Marie's relatives so they could try their experiments on her.

Helen tries to persuade Snape to return to the wizarding world...

And I was planning to stop right there and let you all wonder forever and ever if he did or not. So that's where I'll stop now.

If you have questions, you can e-mail me with them (I will answer, I check the thing compulsively) or go to Anne's Yahoo group (I'm on that compulsively as well).

Thank you again for reading and reviewing, and best of luck down the road!


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